Hall of Famer Attles a man of many hats - including pioneer

Former Warriors player and coach Al Attles poses for a photo at a reception honoring Warriors greats on Monday, who will inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame later in the week. Soon-to-be NBA basketball Hall of Famers, Al Attles Mitch Richmond and Sarunas Marciulionis attended a reception and program at CSNBA studios in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, August 4, 2014, in advance of Friday's induction ceremonies.

Former Warriors player and coach Al Attles poses for a photo at a...

The Basketball Hall of Fame is notorious for its erratic behavior. The legendary Pete Newell waited years for induction and was finally elected as a "contributor" because he'd only coached 10 seasons. Bernard King and Don Nelson, among many others, were ignored far too long.

Nike founder Phil Knight made the cut in 2012 to the astonishment of many, including former Warriors general manager Scotty Stirling, who muttered, "Here I am pushing hard for Al Attles, and they vote in a frickin' shoe salesman."

The votes are taken in secret, so you never know quite whom to blame, but things tend to work out in the end. Attles, whose longevity with the Warriors is unmatched, has been selected winner of the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award and will be inducted Friday along with former Warriors Sarunas Marciulionis, Mitch Richmond and Guy Rodgers, Attles' backcourt teammate in Philadelphia and San Francisco from 1961-66.

Think about this: In 54 years with the organization, Attles has been a player, player-coach, full-time head coach, general manager, vice president, consultant, ambassador, even a part-owner (he held a small ownership stake during the latter years of the Franklin Mieuli regime). No one else in league history can claim such an unbroken run of loyalty, responsibility and multifaceted contributions to a single franchise.

He is best remembered for coaching the Warriors to the 1975 NBA title, balancing the genius of Rick Barry with the deepest rotation - 10 or even 11 players getting significant minutes - ever fielded by a championship team. He is also known for his great humility, one reason people tend to forget his most historic achievement.

Two African American stars, Lenny Wilkens and Bill Russell, became NBA player-coaches in the 1960s. Attles assumed that role with 30 games left in the Warriors' 1969-70 season. But when Attles took the full-time head job in 1971-72, he became the first black man to hold that distinction in American professional sports.

"You know, I never thought much about it - at the time, years later, even now," Attles said over a recent lunch in Oakland. "I guess it was a long time coming, but I never thought it should be that big of a deal. I know K.C. Jones felt the same way."

The '75 Finals against Washington, led by K.C. Jones, marked the first time two black coaches faced each other at the professional level.

Attles wasn't a great player, but he was memorable. "Once you were guarded by Al Attles, you never forgot him," said the great Oscar Robertson. "Toughest man I ever played against."

To see the 77-year-old Attles around Oracle Arena, so polite and generous with his time, so impeccably dressed, you'd never picture him as Joe Frazier. But in a crisis, that's what Attles was on the basketball court - a finisher.

"Back then you needed enforcers," Newell said years ago. "There were only nine teams in the league, the rivalries were intense and fights broke out all the time. Hell, you'd have people coming out of the stands to join in. You need someone out there who loves contact and is willing to keep order."

Attles stood just 6-foot-1 but took down some giants, including Zelmo Beaty and Bob Ferry, during some NBA scraps of the early '60s. One night Attles was called for a foul when the contact had been rudely initiated by some impetuous rookie. "Don't do that again," Attles warned him - but he did, a few plays later. It took just one punch from Attles to score a knockdown, and as the referee rushed in to pull him away, he said, "Kid, stay down. It may be the last time you get up."

If there's a single lasting memory from the '75 Finals, it's the sight of Attles rushing off the bench to corral the Bullets' Mike Riordan, who had committed a sequence of absurdly hard fouls on Barry in attempt to start a fight and get Barry ejected. "Wes Unseld (of the Bullets) got to Attles first, or Riordan would have been in big trouble," recalled Tom Meschery, Attles' longtime friend and Warriors teammate.

What mattered, though, was the remarkable sense of harmony on that team, the idea that instead of shrinking a playoff rotation - common strategy then and now - a coach could get his entire bench thoroughly involved. The Warriors have yet to recapture that championship feeling, but for the man responsible - and the very face of the organization - recognition comes at last.

Al Attles

Born: Nov. 7, 1936, Newark, N.J.

College: North Carolina A&T

Draft: Fifth round (39th overall) by the Philadelphia Warriors

Career: Played for the Warriors in Philadelphia and then San Francisco from 1960-71, acting as player/coach for the final 30 games of the 1969-70 season and all of 1970-71. Retired as a player after the '70-71 season with career averages of 8.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists. Coached the Warriors for 14 seasons, making the playoffs six times, winning two division crowns and the NBA championship in 1975, the franchise's only West Coast title. His team-record 557 coaching wins are 24th on the NBA's all-time list. He later served as the team's GM for three years. His number (16) is one of only six retired by Warriors.